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Book .^7i±M^ 

Copyright N»_.. 7?^ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



QUATRAINS 
OF CHRIST 

Bv GEORGE CREEL 

PREFACE BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE 






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PAUL ELDER &» COMPANY 

SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK 



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Bend on this wonder world a 

clearer eye, T^'^ 

Hark closer to the soul's pro- .^ /O ^ 

phetic cry, |j L| n 

Thrill with the happy song <^ 

of growing things, j ^ ^ 

And read the promise of the 

star-set sky. 



Copyright, 1907, by 
George Creel 

Copyright, 1908, by 
Paul Elder and Company 



LiBHASY of OONa!5E5S^ 
I wu oocies rtetdivefl 

AUG 11 1^08 



W.1IUB/ l« I 



f^ 



.i*> 






>i TO MY MOTHER 

^ WHOSE TENDER LOVE AND 

- INSPIRING COMPANIONSHIP HAVE 
BEEN EVER PRESENT 
PROOFS OF GOD'S 
GOODNESS 



PREFACE 

IT IS strange that the Chris- 
tian world should have been 
in need of exactly such a book 
as this, — that after nineteen 
hundred years of Christianity 
we should lack a simple and straight- 
forward reaffirmation of the truth of the 
Christian faith. Christ has been much 
patronized of late, — has been coupled 
in a sentence with Buddha and Con- 
fucius and other alleged saints and 
Messiahs of the past ; but a man has 
been wanting to say that he is nothing 
less than God in the flesh, — Son of God 
as well as Son of man, — the Lord In- 
carnate, come to redeem us from our 
sins. Mr. George Creel comes forward 
to supply this deficiency; there is no 
evasion or compromise in his speech on 
the subject ; his is the faith of the Early 
Christians, before the sectarians got to 
work on the plain-spoken, sublime rec- 
ords of the Divine Life on earth; he 
leaves scepticism on one side, and phil- 
osophy and the Higher Criticism on 
the other, and makes straight for his 
goal. His belief and testimony are as 
naif as that of a little child, — except 
we be as whom, we " can in now wise 
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." 
He has little concern with arguments ; 
he appeals to the interior witness of the 
adoring heart. This is what the world 
needs, and no part of the world so much 
as that which calls itself Christian. 
His utterance is as free from the apolo- 
getic note as it is from acerbity and 



PREFACE 
browbeating. He has felt the truth 
himself, deep down in his soul, and he 
cannot do otherwise than give it forth 
with all his soul and strength. He 
speaks not in contentiousness but in 
love. The living waters have touched 
his lips, and he longs to have others 
drink as he has drunk. He holds up 
the wonderful and radiant story before 
our eyes, and summons us to receive 
its glad tidings with worship and joy. 
The Lord has come down to earth; 
and through his lineaments, which we 
have mocked and disfigured, the light 
of His divinity shines unquenchable; 
and the very disfigurements are proof 
of the indwelling and emerging Perfec- 
tion. 

More than a thousand years after the 
Crucifixion, there was born in Nisha- 
pur, in the Far East, a gentle but cyni- 
cal soul called Omar Khayyam. His 
experience of life distilled itself in a 
sort of kindly pessimism, and was em- 
bodied in a series of quatrains which 
lived their day and were forgotten, 
until, fifty years ago, an Irishman of 
kindred culture and temperament trans- 
lated and remoulded some of them into 
a subtle and musical poem which em- 
bodied the eloquent philosophic despair 
of the last century. But it was not till 
long after Edward FitzGerald's death 
that the genius of an American artist, 
Elihu Veddar, gave his verses fame 
and wide recognition. The Englished 
Rubaiyat has ever since been conspic- 
uous on the drawing-room table of 



PREFACE 

culture here and in England, and senti- 
mental women and self-indulgent men 
have echoed his stanzas whenever the 
roses of their hopes faded, or the pallor 
of their existence needed wine. "In 
the fire of spring, "they murmur, "your 
winter garment of repentance fling"; 
adding that " The bird of life has but 
a little way to flutter — and the bird is 
on the wing ! " It is a seductive strain, 
tending to disintegrate moral fibre, and 
by its attractive expression of a certain 
indolence of the modern mind, has per- 
haps done a good deal to discourage 
whatever remnants of virility were left 
in contemporary religious thought. 

Mr. George Creel was therefore well 
inspired to attack the enemy on his 
own ground, and to fight him with his 
own weapon. The Quatrains of Christ 
are, in form, the Rubaiyat of Omar 
over again ; but save that they are full 
of veritable poetry, they are as differ- 
ent from them in purpose and issue as 
light is different from shadow. They 
are informed with the beautiful whole- 
someness of youth, reverence and can- 
dor; and they seem to avenge us of 
the old adage that the Devil has all the 
good tunes, by embodying in the very 
lilt and measure of disbelief the fra- 
grance and beauty of true doctrine. 
There is not throughout the entire little 
volume one moment of nasal psalm- 
singing and unctuous exhortation ; but 
there is not a verse in it, either, that 
is not joyfully religious through and 
through, and that does not convey an 



I*] 



PREFACE 

enthusiasm of conviction that is both 
instructive and contagious. Page after 
page is as though we were listening 
to Sir Galahad, pure in heart, as he 
sang in the forest, riding on his quest 
for the Holy Grail. And ever and anon 
the singer chants forth an actual phrase 
or figure from Old Omar, as though a 
new Moses were to transform the rods 
of Pharaoh's enchanters into hostile 
serpents to devour them. If humor 
were predicable of a poem so serious 
and vital in purpose as this, I should be 
disposed to think there was humor in 
these passages. 

The interest in Creel's production, 
unlike Omar's or FitzGerald's, is con- 
tinuous from page to page, instead of 
being confined to separate passages ; so 
that though there is not, in strictness, 
either argument or narrative, there is a 
distinct thread of purpose and senti- 
ment from end to end, which we follow 
with accumulating appreciation. The 
poet has read his Gospels with awak- 
ened and living insight ; he has forgot- 
ten the commentators and the critics, 
and gives us the freshness and sweet- 
ness of the original story. He has kept it 
in his heart, and let it grow and fructify 
there. He has pondered longingly over 
the silence of the Gospel narratives as to 
the early boyhood of the Saviour : — 

"Did Mary's arms turn childish grriefs to 

bliss ? 
Or did His holy mission make Him miss 

The happiness of youth's abandoningrs, 
The maffic solace of a mother's kiss ? " 



PREFACE 

But he will not repine because no an- 
swer is returned to his listening ear. 
The loving heart can surmise truths 
which history dare not disclose ; and he 
will listen to his heart, — 

" * * * for as we see 
A child, locked in, leap up when it may be 
The watched-for, longed-for loved one 
comes at last, 
So does it leap, O Lord, to welcome 
thee ! " 

And it suffices to be assured that the 
Divine mission was fulfilled: — 

"The worm ■within each rose's heart ^was 

curled 

Until Thy mystic might at Nain hurled 

Death's menace back upon itself and 

stilled 

The immemorial wailing of the world." 

I must remember that I am writing 
not a review but a preface; but what I 
have instanced will not forestall the 
reader's pleasure or his interest. He 
will read this little book not once nor 
twice only, but will make it his own. It 
is a new thing in literature; but its 
appeal is to something deeper in man 
than the literary sense ; it deals with an 
immortal theme, and shines with the 
reflection of the joyful dignity thereof. 

JULIAN HAWTHORNE. 



JU 



QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



GOME, strike thy harp's most 
high, exultant string, 
Until its golden ecstasy 
shall ring 
To very Heaven : thence flaming 
down the dark. 
Shall thrill dead souls to new, sweet 
blossoming. 

>i^II^ 

BGAIN a Star dawns in the 
Eastern sky, 
Again the startled shepherd 
lifts his cry. 
As waking from his midnight 
sleep, he sees 
The camelsof the Wise Men sweep- 
ing by. 

^^^^HE years have worked their 
M C\ measure of decay. 
^L J Wliere is the inn or stable ? 
^^^ Who can say, 
" This is the spot," or "There the 
very place 
Where Lord Christ came into the 
light of day"? 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



QO MORE chants Caiaphas 
his vengeful song, 
And scattered to the wind 
is all the throng 
That clamored for Barabbas,only 
held 
In memory by reason of their 
wrong. 

M^^HE weak-souled Pilate long 
# C\ has passed away, 
^ V Great Caesar, too, is now 
^^^^ obstructive clay, 

Their mighty Rome forgotten 
save as theme 
To keep the grumbling schoolboy 

from his play. 

UT still the sweet of frank- 
incense and myrrh 
Steals down the centuries, 
and as it w^ere 
But yesterday, so sweet and new 
it seems, 
Did blessed Mary bear the Har- 
binger. 



© 



QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



© 



UT yesterday that through 

the stable gloom 
An angel shape, with droop- 
ing pity's plume, 
Swept beaded anguish from the 
Virgin's brow 
That dewed sin-arid earth to vernal 
bloom. 

^^^^HOU giv'st to each a price- 
m C\ less diadem 
^L J Of precious gifts, but, ah, 
^^^^ the fairest gem 
Is that clear faith, O God, with 
which we shrine 
The miracle of far-off Bethlehem. 



BYE, bless us so, and let it 
never be 
Like tapestried romance 
men peer to see, 
Or some old song with meaning 
half forgot. 
That drowsy children hear at grand- 
sire's knee. 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



aL W AYS with sense of viv- 
idness — with thrill 
Of things intensely pres- 
ent — may we still 
Remember this : that human flesh 
and blood 
Were chosen to exemplify His will. 



e 



'UARD us from Habit's 
poppied charm, and let 
The lotus-laden flight of 
Time beget 
No far-away, faint half- remem- 
berings. 
No spectral shadowing or silhou- 
ette. 

'HRINK not, but draw in 
wide-eyed wonder near 
Each incident in all the 
Christ career — 
From birth to cross there were 
no veils or walls, 
And nearer makes it dearer and 
more clear. 




QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



^XIII^ 

O VIRGIN, were thy young 
eyes unafraid, 
Or didst thou shrink, sore 
startled and dismayed, 
From that first mystic thrill when 
thou didst leam 
God's precious Burden had on thee 
been laid ? 

nOUD sang the golden - 
throated Cherubim, 
And all the wheeling hosts 
of Seraphim, 
Whose flashing pinions ermined 
humble thatch, 
And shot with fire the Heaven's 
sapphire rim. 

^-■-^HAT must have been thy 
^ ■ ^ happy, sweet amaze 
% 1 ^ To see the sudden aureate 
^^^ halo blaze, 

And from the wide-flung gates 
of Paradise 
Hear mighty harmonies of joyous 

praise. 



►I^XVI^ 

'^^l^^-^WEREsweet if knowledge 
m (TA bridged the gap between 
^k^J Christ's manger cradle and 
^^^ that later scene 
Companioned by the elders, gray 
and grim 
Full -blossomed youth in favor and 
in mien. 

OID laughter bubble as He 
leapt and ran ? 
Was He as others ere His 
work began 
Of lifting from the W^orld its dole 
of doubt. 
And making straight Salvation's 
tender plan ? 

OR \NPiS there hint of Pi- 
late's fell decree. 
The lonely horror of Geth- 
semane, 
A prescience of thorny diadem, 
Or shadow from the hill of Cal- 
vary ? 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



OID Mary's arms turn child- 
ish griefs to bhss ? 
Or did His holy mission 
make Him miss 
The happiness of youth's aban- 
donings, 
The magic solace of a mother's 
kiss? 

EOR, given then the secret 
of those years, 
Long lapse of stripling days 
undamped with tears, 
I could come nearer to Him, and 
athrill, 
Be quit forever of my a\A^cs and 
fears. 

►I^XXI^I^ 

DAY, Lord, let this not give 
offense to Thee, 
For if a passion for sheer 
nearness be 
Aroused by those of earth, then 
how much more 
When Thou art loved in such su- 
perb degree. 




QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



m 



'ERE thought of Thee doth 
pour into my veins 
A leaping flame that burns 
the sullen stains 
Of sin from out the broidered 
Cloth of Life, 
Till the fair fabric white and gold 
remains. 

►i^XXIII^ 

^J^ ^HE marvel blaze that blind- 
m C\ ed raging Saul, 
%^ ^ And held black Herod's 
^^■^ savage soul in thrall — 

That swept from Mary all her 
silks and shame 
And ashed the splendor of her 

onyxed hall. 

^^-;=^OW doth it rapture fancy 
^ ^ and enchain 
I p Belief and love to marshal 
^ *^ once again 

The great, kaleidoscopic surge of 
men 
Who felt that flame and followed 
in His train. 



QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



ETHINK you of this fol- 
lowing ! No part 
Gave all, nor class — as 
mountain torrents start 
In spring, they poured from pal- 
ace, tent and cot. 
From? sea and field, the desert and 
the mart. 



© 



►i^XXVI^ 

EIERCE Syrians, swart Pu- 
nic chiefs, and bands 
Of blacks, grim Romans 
who in many lands 
Had seen strange gods, Egyp- 
tians, fire-eyed Gauls, 
Pale Greeks, and nomads yellowed 
with far sands. 

^O HUGELY great the num- 
ber, none can tell 
How many died in circus 
or in cell 
For Him who was of their own 
day — and still 
We yield to Controversy's wasting 
spell ! 




QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



►i^XXVIII^ 

"^^^^^yOR Him who was of their 
*^*-^ own day ! " Ah, there 
W \ We have a sword, all rea- 
-^ ^ son-forged, to wear 
And wield in swirling splendor 
when against 
The Powers of the Dark we do and 
dare, 

ITS hilt star-studded by the 
mad array 
Of gems that ransomed 
Mary threw away. 
The flaming, ravished jewels that 
were Saul's 
When stricken cities knew his ruth- 
less sway. 

'ND witnesses! Ah, there 
was Pilate's wife 
Who pleaded for the Gali- 
lean's life. 
And tiger-hearted Herod, over- 
awed, 
Refused Christ Jesus to the heads- 
man's knife. 





QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



Ho, MARTYRS' blood cas- 
cades from ev'ry page 
Of history, and Nero's de- 
mon rage 
Still chills the heart — then shall 
our voices rise. 
And futile argument our minds en- 
gage ? 

'S HOMING birds flee from 
the darkling W^est, 
As babes with thrusting 
lips seek mother breast. 
So do I turn to Thee, thou tender 
Christ, 
My tear-scorched eyes asmile, my 
doubts at rest. 

►i^XXXIII^ 

IN LOVING Thee I seek 
not Logic's aid. 
Nor do I ever ask to have 
displayed 
Disrupted Science's confusing 
page. 
O'er writ with guesses restless 
minds have made. 




QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



►i^XXXIV^i^ 

UT listen to my heart, for 

as we see 
A child, locked in, leap up 
when it may be 
The watched-for, longed-for loved 
one comes at last, 
So does it leap, O Lord, to welcome 
Thee. 



© 



ffi 



EN sing of that they love, 

and so have sung 
In many ways since first 
the earth was young, 
So shall I then, in simple fashion, 
ease 
A heart by lack of full confession 
wrung. 

►I^XXXVI^i^ 

'IMPLICITY! No other 
way is clear 
That may, at end of all, 
bring pilgrims near 
To Thee, O one white Flower 
swaying fair 
Amid the blighted blooms of yester- 
year. 




* 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



QOR worship where pale 
priestesses supine 
All bloodily adore some 
midnight shrine, 
No mystic murmurings or stran- 
gled scream, 
But sound of singing brook and 
whispering pine. 

►i^ XXXVIII ►I^ 

\^^ ^HEN must the flame-eyed 
m Ov musenowstrip,abashed, 
^L J Of flowing, purpled splen- 
^^^^ dors, jewel-splashed. 
And take the narrow path in 
cooling white, 
Her hair the maiden's way, and lily 
sashed. 



QUATRAINS 

OP 

CHRIST 



^XXXIX^ 

^w^HERE Alexander's steel 
■ ■ ■ with all its stains ? 
\mF Attila's mace that crumbled 
^^^ haughty reigns ? 
Alaric's lance or Soldan's scimi- 
tar? 
The Savior's fadeless palm alone 
remains. 

►J^XL^i^ 

O PRINCE of Peace, Thy 
argent temple yields 
Far richer spoils than e'er 
were brought on shields 
From sack of Lydian metropolis, 
Or plundering of prostrate Persia's 
fields. 



*XLI^ 

CHE ancient chains that 
weighed a people down. 
Oppression's dripping 
sword, the prison gown 
Of Opportunity, Injustice's red 
scourge. 
And Tyranny's once awe-inspiring 
crown. 



QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 




aND over all, like Paradisal 
snow, 
The petals of Life's roses 
drift and glow — 
The thorns turned pointless in 
Thy heart of hearts. 
The blossom for Thy brothers here 
below. 

^XLIII^ 

CHE wind that moaned an 
ancient pain away 
Was soothed of all its sobs 
and sick dismay — 
Thou gav'st new courage to the 
coward dawn 
And glad triumphant guidons to the 
day. 

HOR fevered living, fret and 
pain the price, 
Until the oil of Thy dear 
sacrifice 
Assuaged, and smoothed a hal- 
cyon expanse 
To mirror the allure of Paradise. 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



CHE worm within each rose's 
heart was curled, 
Until Thy mystic might at 
Nain hurled 
Death's menace back upon itself 
and stilled 
The immemorial wailing of the 
world. 



ffi 



'AYHAP, when Twilight's 
sombre hosts parade, 
That Terror's tears will 
hail the hasting Shade — 
Believe it ancient weakness of the 
flesh — 
My soul awaits Thy call all un- 
afraid. 

►i^XLVII* 

UT will Thou not be tender 

of this fear, 
As mothers comfort when 
the dark is near, 
And while I huddle in the haunted 
gloom, 
Throw wide the gate, and let Thy 
light appear. 



© 




IS IT too much to ask, or 
will Thy wrath 
Be kindled by the creeping 
doubt that hath 
Its way with flesh ? Ah, no, the 
dying thief 
W^as fearful too, and Thou didst 
blaze his path. 

►J^XLIX^ 

ND as I, kneeling, breathe 

my silent prayer. 
When weak of heart or 
weighted with despair, 
I think of how the faithful Simon 
once 
Did help Thee, weary Christ, Thy 
cross to bear. 

O CRUEL cross and Cal- 
vary's wild stress! 
A crown of thorns, a clos- 
ing tomb, the press 
Of traitor lips — what sorry gifts 
indeed 
To counterpoise unpurchased hap- 
piness ! 





QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



u 



UT it is done! The strange 

exchange is made ! 
Salvation is for all, the price 
is paid — 
So let us, shriven and consoled, 
abide 
In meek acceptance of the gracious 
trade. 

QOT thoughtless joy, nor yet 
the thoughtless tear, 
Not brazen forwardness 
nor shrinking fear. 
But aye serene in perfect con- 
fidence 
Of marshalled love and mercy ever 
near. 

^w^ET was Thy disappoint- 
^ ■ ^ ment with its tears, 
\mf But one finds not that any- 
^■^^ where appears 
Grim Melancholy as Thy chosen 
friend. 
Or sordid Gloom as master of Thy 
years. 




QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 




'O LET us never be afraid 
to rise 
In sure aloofness from 
among the eyes 
That shut to light and beauty, 
and all blind, 
Invoke a broken Christ with sobs 
and sighs. 

'ULL oft must Thou have 

paused in greening dale, 

And, seeing soul-white 

blossoms grow less pale 

Beneath a young sun's shy caress, 

thrilled deep. 

And prayed of God that loveliness 

prevail. 

'ARTH heard and hid her 
scars at Thy command. 
Threw viny mantles o'er 
the unrich land. 
Flung flowers to the waste, and 
palms and springs 
Companioned to redeem the desert's 
sand. 



fi 



& 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 





'ND, O love exquisite ! Thou 
hast the rose. 
The swaying fragrance of 
the garden close, 
Stand forth as fair, renewing 
monuments. 
To mark where clean hearts find a 
brief repose. 

OEAR Nazarene, Thou art 
the soul and source 
Of all true joy. I will my- 
self divorce 
From gloom, and Death shall hear 
a happy song 
"When he shall reach me in his 
sombre course. 

BH,SWEET the world since 
to Thy tender breast 
Thou gathered all that 
darkened and oppressed, 
And breathing it with beauty and 
delight 
Pursued Thy way to Calvary's sad 
rest. 



QUATRAINS 



OP 



CHRIST 



^-■^HAT madness then to seek 
^ I ^ what He hath ta'en, 
\i/ To lift the cup of bitter 
^^^ wine and drain 
Its dregs, or grope to find the 
crown of thorns, 
All drunkenly infatuate with pain. 

' WEET Jesus, never let me 
be afraid 
To sing my love in lilting 
strain, nor swayed 
By such as have no heart for 
happiness, 
And build their altars in Golgotha's 
shade. 

IS good to read the written 

tale of those 
Who shared His triumphs 
and condoled His woes. 
And mark the joyousness of sim- 
ple faith 
That 'lumes the rigor of the gospel 
prose. 




© 



u 




QUATRAINS 



OP 



CHRIST 




^w^HAT better if their words 
^ ■ ^ fell soft as lace 
1 1 ^ On silken breasts? Or that 
^"^^ they had the grace 

Of sylvan silhouettes? A finer 
mesh 
Would not enhance Truth's never- 

aging face. 

BS MOTHER countries send 
a guarded fire 
To light a newland'saltars, 
O Desire 
Of all the ^Vo^ld, flame in sad 
souls a flare 
Of faith from off" Thy Pentecostal 
pyre. 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



nET fools with much pre- 
tense of wisdom scout 
The News, and wag their 
heads in owlish doubt 
Of great Jehovah's all-embracing 
scheme 
Because there is a Door they stand 
without. 

CONTENT are we, the chil- 
dren of His hand. 
To watch and wait, nor 
blatantly demand, 
Assured that in His own good 
time He will 
Unlock the Door, and let us under- 
stand. 

^w^ITH all the wonder of the 
■ ■ ■ world before 
\ 1 ^ Our eyes, His love unfold- 
^**^ ing more and more, 

Shall we not grasp the Miracle of 
Life, 
Ere thronging fierce and clamant at 

the Door? 




QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



I HAVE no gift to see be- 
yond the years, 
But when repentance came 
with helpful tears 
Dear Faith accompanied, and has 
remained 
To guard my soul against recurring 
fears. 

Goo much of rain may fall 
and rot the vine, 
A drought burn bare the 
field, the first-born pine. 
Disaster raze the House of Hap- 
piness — 
Small things to match against the 
Plan divine. 

^Tw^HEN sleeps the trusting 
^ ■ ^ soul in sweet content, 
\mF Faith marshaling its 
^^^^ dreams, and all unrent 
By warring doubts and mad un- 
rests, then why 
Awake and plunge it into vain fer- 
ment? 



QUATRAINS 

OP 

CHRIST 



GHAOS first reigned. Did 
star call unto star, 
The seas select their beds, 
and from afar 
The worlds assemble to assign 
their swings, 
Or did a Master place them as they 
are? 

'ND if 'twas God that en- 
tered brooding Space, 
And gave to everything a 
plan and place, 
Was it achildishgame He stooped 
to play, 
And, having played, then turned 
away His face ? 

►i^LXXIII^I^ 

^^^^HE queenly seasons, flash- 
m C\ ingly arrayed, 
^L J In tuneful, circumstantial 
^^^^ pomp parade. 

And on the carpet-stretch of 
splendid days. 
The varied wonders of the world 

are laid. 




QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



u 



►J^LXXIV^I< 

M^^^HE singing soul's insistent, 
m C^ yearning strain 
%^ J Tells immortality, yet are 
^^^ there vain 

And insolent demands for guar- 
antee 
That we shall come to live and 

love again. 

'y^ -^IS of His wisdom that He 
m C\ does not set 
^k^J Ungrateful doubts at rest, 
^^^ else would we let 
Mad passions loose, and scornful 
of this life, 
Give over to neglect and evil fret 

►i^LXXVI^i^ 

^J^ -^HINK you that He who 
m C\ wakes the vernal seed 
^^ J From where it sleeps with 
^^^ death beneath the mead, 

\A/'ill coldly let His imaged chil- 
dren sink 
To nothingness, and pay no further 

heed? 



LT^ quatrains i^Y^^ 
I^P I I CHRIST IPJP 



►i^LXXVII^ 

CODAYwiUYesterda/srare 
rose entomb, 
Ah, yes, but where a hint 
of final dooEQ ? 
Some rest, the trumpet call, a 
judgment passed. 
And then Tomorrov/s new and 
richer bloom. 

^LXXVIII^ 

®HAT mad pretense it is 
that fails to hear 
The symphony of suns, and 
shuts the ear 
When through the joyous lilt of 
growing things, 
The testimony of the sea comes 
clear. 

►x^LXXIX *i^ 

^ — ^OOK to the singing seed 
I / and sap. The whole 
M m Of nature races to an un- 
^ ^ seen goal, 

Where God, the Master of the 
Games, hath hung 
The high incentive of a human 
soul. 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



I KNOW that many are the 
tales they tell 
Of fearful flames in an en- 
during hell, 
But ever have they failed to ter- 
rify, 
So powerful Creation's tender spell. 

CHE Hand that wrought 
with such a sure intent. 
And half of Heaven's 
hoarded beauty spent 
Upon the world, could never 
clench to strike. 
Or hurl a sightless soul to punish- 
ment. 

^LXXXII^I^ 

^^^^HE message of a day is 
m C\ altered by 
%^ ^ The thoughts of those that 
^^■^^ pass it on, then why 
Assume God's word uncolored 
and unchanged 
By all His messengers since Sinai ? 



QUATRAINS 



OP 



CHRIST 



^LXXXIII>i< 



© 



PATHS of peril, agony 
and shame, 
Past coupled menaces of 
sword and flame, 
Through wolf-fanged centuries 
that howled their hate — 
*Twas in such way the holy message 
came. 



►i^LXXXIV^i^ 







REAT souls who suffered 

silently, and yet 
What blame to them if all 
the hate they met 
Bit passion deep, and charged 
their carried words 
With less of gentleness and more 
of threat ? 

UT let it pass. This night 

a moon shall rise 
To paint a pledge of peace 
upon the skies, 
And with the splendor of the 
morning come 
A reassuring sun to kiss our eyes. 



© 




►I^LXXXVI^ 

CHE west- wind Ariels shall 
gaily spill 
Earth's chaliced charm, and 
quickened by the shrill 
Sweet bugles of the dawn, sweep 
swiftly on 
To fret the frondage of the dream- 
ing hill. 

►i^LXXXVII^i^ 

ND ere the burning noon 

shall faint and fail 
A joy-mad lark shall brave 
the higher gale 
To sing his love, and jealously 
efface 
The echoed mem'ries of the night- 
ingale. 

►i^LXXXVIII^ 

OWORLDofbeauty! World 
of charm! Where naught 
Is left to vagrant chance, or 
ever brought 
To drear misuse by dearth of 
tenderness. 
Or e'er a second's lack of loving 
thought. 




QUATRAINS 



OP 



CHRIST 



HORD, dost offend this sim- 
ple, hackneyed strain 
In pointed praise of that 
which should be plain — 
This poor attempt to garland 
crumbling phrase, 
Somewhat of charm and newness 
to attain ? 

^XC^ 

OLET me take the world's 
old worn-out tongue 
And crush it to the vague 
from which it sprung, 
Then fashion from the inarticu- 
late, 
New songs to vary those that have 
been sung. 

►J^XCI^i^ 

SET is it not the singer nor 
the song, 
But faith alone — so Ignor- 
ance's long 
Monotonies may vie with jeweled 
psalm. 
And echo in Thine ear as clear and 
strong ? 



L 



n 



QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



^XCII^ 

EULL oft from out the pleas- 
ure groves that lie 
About the Vineyard comes 
the taunting cry, 
" Why toil ye through the pleas- 
ant days, O Fools ? 
Hast ever yet beheld the Master's 



eye 



^XCIII^i^ 




H, SWEET the luring 
shade at noontide's heat, 
With garland-weaving 
Phyllis near, and sweet 
The lulling song, the heart-com- 
pelling pipe, 
The rhythmic twinkling of the 
dancers' feet. 



1 


.T^ 


QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 








\^ ^HEY chant the sun, the 
# C^ rose ; and dreamy-eyed, 
%, J Sing sultans, beauty, wine, 
^^■^ the pomp and pride 

That ever tends on Pleasure's 
golden court, 
Till simple Faith seems very poor 

beside. 

y^ CND soft as flower-petals 

fr 1 Chloe's breast, 

^ 1 Its creamy charm allur- 
^' ^ ingly confessed — 

Aye, soft as blossoms in a prince's 
keep. 
Slave -watched, and by Hyblean 

winds caressed. 

/^ ^\ UT solemn night descends 

V 1/''^^ upon the play, 

\m^M In crashing discord ends 

^^-^ the roundelay — 
On Chloe's chilling breast the 
roses droop, 

And Phyllis sorrows for the van- 
ished day. 





fl 



QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



ftolM 



CHE night that frightens 
idlers brings me peace, 
The dusk that scatters 
them marks my release, 
And so throughout the day I toil 
content, 
Until the twilight's signal of sur- 
cease. 

CHE Vineyard hath its heat 
and hurt, and thin 
My cheeks with tears, but 
what a goal to win ! 
And there are Jordan's banks all 
soft with shade. 
And Kedron's flow to lave the body 



in. 



© 



►i^XCIX^i^ 



'IS written so upon the 
world's great crest, 
A million things in Nature 
all attest 
A perfect law of balance which 
makes clear 
That only those who work shall 
know His rest. 



QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 




'IN may with gorgeousness 
conceal its dole, 
And gloriously garb the 
body's whole 
In dream-born tissues soft as 
Circe's lips, 
But only faith can ornament the 
soul. 

FINER savor has the 

beaded brine 
That drops from brow to 
lip than idle wine. 
And dearer far the laurel's sober 
leaves 
Than gaily flaunting garlands from 
the vine. 

'O HOLD thy soul to faith- 
fulness, nor yet 
The ends and purposes of 
toil forget, 
But through the day keep thou 
thine eyes in love 
On that dear Heaven where God's 
throne is set. 






(QUATRAINS 

Ob 

CHRIST 



K 



HOk some, eyes hard upon 
the httle place 
They plot and potter in, 
ne'er raibe a face, 
Until Death's heavy hand arouses 
them 
Tocringe before an undreamt, great 
cr space. 

CHE Pearl of Peace cannot 
be bought by strands 
Of gems, or treasure gath 
ercd from far lands 
Remember Simon Magus failed 
to buy 
God's gift from Philip of the Blessed 
Hands. 

'AlwVATlON has no price, 
hut all must ask 
Who would receive the 
boon, nor wear a mask 
To shield the shame and evil in 
their eyes, 
And hide a face unbronzed by 
worthy task. 




?D 



^ kMit. fi^m <9M fm 









G 









vjGi*jtL ^k^at 










QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



CHE fevered throng infre- 
quently condoles 
With effort-filled defeat, 
yet aureoles 
Unfair success, but God's dear 
mercy makes 
All well within the Marketplace of 
Souls. 



e 



'OD'S mercy ! 'Tis the level 
where agree 
The rich, the poor, the fet- 
tered and the free, 
And where the slave's entreaty 
rings as clear 
As some imposing Sultan's haughty 
plea. 

'OD'S marketplace ! Where 
subtly swift and strange 
The values of this sorry 
world all change. 
So that the widow's mite will 
buy far more 
Than all the wealth of Ophir's gold- 
en range. 







QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 




'TRANGE, then, that with 
it all so clear and straight 
There should be argument, 
high-pitched debate, 
Dark misconceptions bred in 
angry hearts, 
And swirling mists of controversial 
hate. 

^^^-^HUS, awe-struck and afraid, 
# CA some fear God's grace, 
^ V And, crouching, cringing, 
^^^^ fulsomely abase 
Themselves, while others scorn 
the bended knee, 
And harden eyes to look Him in 
the face. 

"IP^i^E moulded suns, and 
W M fashioned seas and land, 
1 f He gave us life, and with 
'^"^^ His mighty hand 

Arched Heaven over all, then 
sent His Son 
To consummate the scheme His 
love had planned. 



QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 





SON all reft of princely cir- 
cumstance, 
Those glories that the 
kingly lot enhance, 
And sent along the way of sacri- 
fice, 
A path that took no heed of change 
or chance. 

'ND that the humblest 
might not miss the clue, 
Denied the royal birth that 
was His due, 
Delivered by a Virgin in the 
dark, 
Her bed of pain the straw the cattle 
knew. 

'TRANGE, then, that with 
this beauty all about 
The shining path that 
points the one way out. 
There should be unrequited wan- 
derings — 
Allurement in the sterile fields of 
Doubt. 





QUATRAINS 

OF 

CHRIST 



^CXVIII^i< 

^w^H AT midnight madness not 
^ ■ ^ to understand, 
\mF To flee the happiness di- 
^*^^ vinely planned, 

And in some tangle mow a matted 
head, 
And boast escape from Mercy's 

reaching hand. 

'ND strange that sons of 
Thomas still abide 
W^ith us on earth, and still 
the truth deride. 
Because they cannot grasp His 
nail-torn hands 
And see the blood gush from His 
pierced side. 

O SHAME of shames! The 
Wise Men saw on high 
God's guiding Star gleam 
in the Eastern Sky, 
And straightway journeyed forth 
across the world. 
With ne'er a question asked of 
Where or Why. 




QUATRAINS 



OF 



CHRIST 



•« 



OSTAR, may thy blest radi- 
ance ever lend 
Its glory to the Heavens 
that o'er us bend, 
That it may guide us to that holy 
place 
Where Christ awaits us at our 
Journey's end. 



AUG 11 >SOy 



/ 



